


you are the best thing that's ever been mine

by bewithmereylo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Centered Around COVID-19, F/M, Falling In Love, Flashbacks, Fluff, Long-Distance Relationship, Minor Character Death, Separation Anxiety, The Author Cried Multiple Times While Writing This, The Author Is Sad And Misses Her BF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:12:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26140180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bewithmereylo/pseuds/bewithmereylo
Summary: Waiting was her forte usually, but not today.  Not when she was seeing Ben for the first time in five months.
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 10
Kudos: 75





	you are the best thing that's ever been mine

**Author's Note:**

> Since quarantine began I have been in a long-distance relationship with my boyfriend of four years and, well, I haven't been doing so hot because of it. So, one way I've been coping with being apart is writing, and I wanted to compose something with themes from my own relationship. 
> 
> Hope you guys like this little drabble, and if you do please leave some feedback, it is always appreciated!
> 
> *IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY ANYTHING RELATED TO COVID-19, DO NOT READ THIS FIC.*

She paces around the apartment for god knows how long, glancing at her watch to look at the time. Did Ben say five or five-thirty? Was it actually today or did he say tomorrow he was coming? What if he didn’t show? What if the plane was hit by lightning and disintegrated into nothing?

Rey plops on the couch and hangs her head, willing it to calm down.

_Five hours._

*****

_**Two Years Earlier** _

“Niima, Rey?”

“Here!” Rey slouched back in her chair, opening her notebook to begin taking notes for what would most likely be her most useless class, Introduction to Creative Writing. It was required by her university to take at least three fine arts classes, and her art skills were atrocious, so this seemed like the next best option.

“Alright, let’s see…” Professor Skywalker squinted at the roster sheet, scanning up and down before he found what he was looking for. “Aha! I knew you would be in this class. Benjamin, how are you fairing?”

The guy next to her let out a loud groan before replying. “Just fine, Professor.” He looks to be too tall for the squat chair, knees almost lifting the desk off the ground. His black hair is curled slightly above his shoulders, blending in with the equally dark sweater. Rey had seen him around the halls a few times, but never up close. 

Professor Skywalker chuckled and put his hand next to his face to whisper. “By the way guys, Ben is my nephew, so feel free to torment him about that for the duration of this class.”

Ben groaned again and set his head on the desk with a large thud. Rey couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her mouth, but quickly turned her attention back to Professor Skywalker as Ben glared at her with the one eye peeking out.

Rey drowned out the rest of the lecture, mindlessly writing down bits and pieces she picked up from Skywalker’s scribbles on the chalkboard. By the end she had learned nothing, other than how good Ben smelled next to her and how his eyes scrunched up every once in a while when he tried to process something complicated.

“Okay, I know most of you guys are from different majors and don’t care about this class, but we will be having a few collaborative assignments. So please, find someone and share your contact with them, but choose wisely; this will be your partner for the rest of the semester.”

Everyone else had already found someone by the time Rey tuned into the discussion. She had lost count of how many times she was annoyed during the class, but she sucked it up and turned to the only person who hadn’t found a partner.

“Ben?”

“Yes?” he says, not looking up from his notebook.

“Would you like to be partners? Everyone else is taken, so…” She wasn’t sure why she was nervous talking to him, but once he stood up to gather his things together and she saw his height, Rey realized it wasn’t intimidation.

He shrugged. “Sure, I don’t see why not.”

They exchanged numbers and parted ways, Rey already running behind to get to work. Her phone dinged a few minutes later with a simple _“hey”_ from an unknown number, and she felt a twinge of excitement at having Ben as her partner for the semester.

*****

Rey straightens the blanket on the back of her couch for the eighteenth time that hour. She hasn’t heard from Ben in almost two hours, knowing he was safely on a plane to Boston at this very moment. But her anxiety keeps getting the best of her, and with her work for the week done early, she can’t find anything to keep her distracted. Waiting was her forte usually, but not today. Not when she was seeing Ben for the first time in five months.

_Four hours._

*****

_**One Year & A Half Earlier** _

“I can’t believe we both got A’s! I’m so proud of you, Rey.”

Ben and Rey had just received their final grades from Introduction to Creative Writing, with high praise from the professor for having the best collaborative piece of poetry he had ever seen. The semester started off rocky after having to mesh their schedules, but they soon became a dynamic duo and crushed every single assignment thrown their way.

“I’m sure it’s just because he’s your uncle,” Rey half joked. “It was all you; you’re way more talented at writing.”

“No, Rey, listen, you’re breathtaking and I-” Ben stopped talking for a second when he realized his mistake. “I-I meant your pieces were breathtaking-”

“Go out with me,” Rey interrupted.

“I’m sorry?” Ben asked, genuine confusion crossing his face.

Rey looked down at her shoes, anxiety bubbling up to where she thought it would be better to run away and forget she even asked. “Ben, I said that the other night would be a one time thing, but I like you, a lot. Like, what did that one poem say? 

_I dreamed you were a poem,  
I say, a poem I wanted to show someone...  
and I laugh and fall dreaming again  
of the desire to show you to everyone I love_.”

“Oh jeez, Rey…” His face grew redder as she recited the lines. “You remembered that one? For me?”

Rey nodded, stepping closer and taking his hand in hers gently. “Go out with me?”

Ben closed the gap between the two and squeezed her hand. “Of course I will, Rey.”

*****

She goes on a run, just to clear her head, but one block in and she’s too out of breath to continue. _How did I do this with Ben all the time?_

A quick shower later and Rey vacuums yet again, sucking up the dirt left behind from her shoes. Her tiny apartment is immaculate, and even if she wanted to clean again she couldn’t; Rey had used all the disinfectant wipes for the door handles.

_Three hours._

*****

_**One Year Earlier** _

They always say the first time you say ‘I love you’ is unexpected and never planned, and for Rey that was most certainly true. 

Ben had said it first, and when she couldn’t say it back, she expected him to run for the hills or break up with her. Instead, he laid with her and kissed every inch of her body, singing praise in her ear, ending with him telling her that he would wait to hear it back, even if it took forever.

He was in her dorm, lying on her bed typing up another poem for a class, her shark plush curled up under his chin. Ben’s hair was mussed-up from their activities earlier in the night, and she admired his back muscles, since he was without a shirt. He looked so boyish, so young, and Rey couldn’t tear her eyes away from her spot at her desk.

“I love you,” she blurted out. 

Ben’s fingers immediately stopped typing, head tilted, registering her words. “Come again?”

“I love you, Ben.” Once the words were out, she couldn’t stop the tears that came with it. “I love you, so, so much.” She had never cried in front of anyone, let alone in front of Ben. Instead of feeling vulnerable, she felt comforted; she felt _loved_.

“Rey…” Ben abandoned his work and came to kneel in front of Rey, wiping away her tears. “Rey, I love you. God, I love you more than I thought possible.” 

He gathered her up in his arms, sitting her on the floor in his lap, letting her get all the tears out.

“Please don't leave me…” Rey whispered, clutching the front of his shirt.

“I don’t think I could if I tried.” 

*****

According to the airline website, Ben’s plane has just landed. He isn’t the type to text when he arrives, so Rey continues to wait, biting whatever nails she had left.

_Two hours._

*****

_**Six Months Earlier** _

The first time she sees him cry, it’s unexpected. She came over to work on an assignment together when Rey spotted him sobbing on the floor of his dorm, a blanket wrapped around him. His laptop was playing a Disney movie that Rey doesn’t recognize, and whatever it is is eliciting this emotional episode.

“Ben? Is everything okay?”

He didn’t respond; Rey sat next to him on the floor, picking up the blanket to wrap it around herself as well. Ben leaned into her, soaking her hair with his tears. 

“I didn’t think it was possible to love someone this much…” he muttered, voice garbled from crying. “It took me twenty years to find you, and… goddammit I’m never letting you go.” Ben collapsed into Rey’s arms, and now it was her turn to cry.

The movie finished at some point, but nothing else in the world mattered to the two as they lay on the floor, simply enjoying each other’s presence.

Rey, too, didn’t think it was possible to love this much as well.

*****

Rey lost count of how many times she changed her outfit, but she settled on a simple t-shirt and yoga pants, predicting that they wouldn’t stay on for very long. Her hair was down, a rare occurrence, but after having Ben run his fingers through her hair when she was half asleep, she could never imagine having it up around him. 

_One hour._

*****

_**Three Months Earlier** _

“How’s your mother?”

“Oh, you know, being inside all the time is killing her, but she’s getting by.”

It had been seventy-seven days since Rey had last seen Ben in person. Of course a pandemic had completely ruined their senior year, let alone separate them almost five-hundred miles apart. Rey was still on campus, but Ben’s mother had gone into a severe depression after being stuck in quarantine. It was a hard decision, but both Ben and Rey agreed it was a good idea for someone to be there with her, especially since Ben’s father had died a few years prior.

“I guess that’s good,” she replied, fiddling with the hem of her pajamas.

“How are you, sweetheart?” Ben asked, resting his head on his arm.

Rey sighed. “I’m okay, I guess. The cafeteria is getting less creative and microwavable mac and cheese isn’t cutting it anymore.” Her stomach growled on cue. “My one professor just gave us an A because he doesn’t care anymore.”

“Can’t blame him. Luke told me he was debating it for my class, but too many of us need it for graduation and he doesn’t want us to _not_ learn.” 

“Good for him, I suppose,” she laughed out, ducking her head. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too, sweetheart. I miss our cuddles.”

Rey chuckled, leaning closer to her laptop. “Me too. It’s cold without you here.” She emphasized this point by waving around her oversized sweatshirt sleeves. 

“We’ll see each other soon. I know it.”

Rey smiled, knowing that probably wasn’t true, but appreciated his optimism either way. The way he was looking at her through the camera made her insides melt, and Rey looked up to stop herself from losing it for the fourth time that day.

“Thank god for technology” was all she could say without letting her tears spill out.

*****

The past few months had been literal hell, but soon she could say she made it. She not only graduated college in a fucking pandemic; she got into graduate school and had begun her studies at home, excelling at her assignments and on track to finish a year early. Soon she would be reunited with the love of her life. Soon she would feel whole again.

_Thirty minutes._

*****

_**One Month Earlier** _

“We fucking did it, babe!”

Rey was completely wasted in her graduated gown, cap on her head at an odd angle. She had taken some pictures using the self timer on her phone to send to Ben and her friends, but afterwards downed an entire bottle of wine to celebrate. 

Ben laughed at her state, tipping a champagne in her direction. He was wearing his cap but discarded his gown earlier in the day after getting professional pictures done at the mercy of his mother. “Yes, we did sweetheart.” He took a sip and set down the glass, fixing his gaze on Rey. “I am so, so proud of you, you know that right?”

“Mhmm,” Rey said, attempting to empty her bottle of wine, disappointed to find she already did so twenty minutes ago. “I want more. I want _you_.”

“I want you too, honey. We’ll see each other a lot sooner than you think; I bought my plane ticket today.”

“What?!” Rey yells, standing straight up in her seat, suddenly sober. “But, I thought your state-”

“They lifted the travel ban. I couldn’t get a flight for about a month, but I’m not letting anything stop me; I miss you more than anything, Rey. Being apart from you has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

There were those damned tears again, and of course she was wearing makeup.

“I was hoping to stay for a few days, maybe even a-”

“Stay as long as you want. Hell, stay forever, if you want.” Rey knew it was the alcohol talking, but it brought out all the things she wished she could say but always chickened out of.

“Rey, you’re not-”

“I am.” She sat back down at the computer, knocking off the cap once and for all. “Move in with me.” 

*****

The most reasonable thing to do would be to bring up all his bags at once, or to show him around the new place. But Rey hears the doorbell ring, and all coherent thoughts rush out of her head. Except for one, of course.

Ben was her home; and she was finally, _finally_ , at home.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not going to reveal which parts I wrote for Reylo and which ones are real because I want to keep those memories to myself.
> 
> To my bf: I love you more than anything <3
> 
> You can find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/bewithmereylo) and [Tumblr](https://bewithmereylo.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
